Bella Ramsey says {that a} comparatively latest revelation has been a “freeing” expertise.
“I got diagnosed with autism when I was filming season one of ‘The Last of Us,’” Ramsey, 21, defined to British Vogue in a profile printed Wednesday.
The “Game of Thrones” alum confessed to the journal that they’ve “always wondered” in the event that they had been neurodivergent.
Ramsey stated this curiosity stemmed from a sense that they had been a “weirdo” and “loner” for almost all of their life. As a toddler, Ramsey stated they most popular the corporate of adults to their friends. Additionally they famous that they love routines, are painfully observant of different individuals’s nonverbal communication and expertise sensory sensitivities.
Lionel Hahn by way of Getty Photographs
As a consequence of these qualities, Ramsey stated that when they started filming Season 1 of “The Last of Us” in Canada, they’d an ah-ha second when a crewmember, who had an autistic daughter, simply assumed Ramsey was autistic as properly.
Ramsey credit this informal commentary with prompting them to lastly get a proper prognosis.
Ramsey described getting identified as autistic as liberating, or “freeing.”
“It enables me to walk through the world with more grace towards myself about not being able to do the easy everyday tasks that everyone else seems to be able to do,” Ramsey stated.
In 2023, HuffPost reached out to consultants to seek out out what signs an undiagnosed grownup with autism may need. Consultants responded that a number of the telltale indicators embody a sense of being “different” than others, sensory variations, problem with social cues and robust wishes for routine, solitude and direct communication.
Consultants additionally cited a 2022 research that discovered that 80% of ladies with autism usually are not identified till they’re 18 years previous or older — and famous that receiving a prognosis later in life can produce combined emotions.

Jon Kopaloff by way of Getty Photographs
“Discovering that you’re autistic as an adult can be really validating,” Stephanie Gardner-Wright, a licensed grasp social employee and licensed autism scientific specialist in Michigan, instructed HuffPost on the time. However Gardner-Wright additionally warned this validation might additionally include “a grieving process” that one wasn’t identified earlier, and that extra awkward or distressing moments in an autistic particular person’s youth might have panned out in another way.
“Feeling a mix of grief and also excitement is very, very normal,” Gardner-Wright stated.
Considering and experiencing life in another way than neurotypical individuals may have its perks.
Ramsey, who was nominated for an Emmy for her work as Ellie in Season 1 of “The Last of Us,” instructed British Vogue that they really feel their neurodivergence lends itself to their craft.
“I’ve always been watching and learning from people,” Ramsey stated. “Having to learn more manually how to socialize and interact with the people around me has helped me with acting.”